June 28, 2004
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Dave Uphoff

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Tidbits from the past

Its time again to take a stroll down memory lane as ol' Uncle Dave recalls tidbits from Minonk's past. Minonk had many stores 50 years ago that offered places for kids to hang out. My favorite place was the Princess Sweet Shop at 520 Chestnut Street. How many people remember eating mal-t-cups at the Princess? It was nothing more than malt flavored ice milk filled to the top of an ice cream cone and then frozen. Other fountain treats at the Princess included drinks like a green river, which was a mixture of lime and carbonated water, a summer breeze, which was lime, cherry flavoring and carbonated water, and a chocolate phosphate, which was chocolate mixed with carbonated water.

Herc Paloumpis, the proprietor of the Princess Sweet Shop, and I used to have a contest to see who could jump and touch the highest spot on the ice cream sign hanging over the store. Herc's father Tom, who started the Princess Sweet Shop in 1914, used to take their home-made candy to all of the country schools every Christmas. However, one night back in the 1930's, Tom received a different call to deliver some ice cream to a farm near Minonk. Tom and his helper, George Lasheski, drove out to the farm and upon arrival found the place swarming with Klu Klux Klan members. Tom and George were assured that they would not be harmed. The white hooded Klanners just wanted the ice cream instead. According to the story told to me, when they got back to Minonk, George had to change his pants.

One notable difference between stores today and years ago was the friendliness of the cashiers. Every cashier in every store in Minonk was always friendly and would chat with the customers. At the Vissering Mercantile store at the corner of Sixth and Chestnut, Walter Beckman would be sitting along the checkout counter to greet every customer. There was one particular customer, a farmer who did not practice good hygiene, that used to frequent Visserings every week. Frank the butcher would say he could tell when this farmer walked into the store because of the odor that permeated the store upon his entrance. This same farmer's wife once prepared a pumpkin pie for workers at a lunch break during the threshing season. Unfortunately, she just dumped in the raw pumpkin and baked it without sugar, eggs, or milk.

Minonk even had shoe stores. Years ago shoe stores made use of x-ray machines for determining the shoe fitness. Customers would place their feet inside the x-ray machine and look into the viewer to see the outline of their feet including the bones inside the shoe. That machine has long been outlawed but I don't know of anyone ever getting cancer of the foot.

Speaking of feet, I remember Emil Janssen who worked at the feed mill near Sixth and Johnson. Emil had really flat feet and used to wear tennis shoes along with his bib overalls which was a sharp contrast to the clod hoppers that most workers wore. Little did Emil know that he was a trend setter for a new generation of youths.

The Minonk Theatre was definitely a favorite place for people, young and old. Some of the seats in the theater were missing arm rests. These seats would be occupied by young lovers called "neckers" who could get real close to each other minus the arm rest. There was an outbreak of ringworm when I was young and my mother told me not to lean my head back on the seats in the theater so that I wouldn't contract ringworm.

Few people remember that Minonk's Fourth of July celebration was started by Dr. Winfield Morrison in the early 1950's. The celebration used to be a one day event at the Westside Park. People would bring picnic lunches and games would be held for the children. Other events included a tennis tournament and music at the bandstand. One of the musicians that I remember was Loren "Judo" Shetler who was partially blind. He was a Hank Williams fan and would sing Hank's songs at the bandstand. "Judo" even looked like Hank Williams with his long thin frame and western style hat.

One of the more popular games in the park was a tether ball pole in which two players would attempt to wrap a volley ball attached to a rope around a pole by batting it with their hands.

Back in the 1950's the Westside Park was very beautiful. It was filled with huge elm trees and had a wading pool for children. We would use the elm trees as bases when we played softball. Over the years the elm trees died off and the park looked barren for many years. However, the park is making a comeback. While helping construct the new pavilion, I noticed that the park is being used quite often. With the completion of the new pavilion, it appears that things are in place to make the park a favorite spot for social gatherings again. Since its dedication 2 weeks ago, there has been a birthday party and a family reunion at the pavilion and a wedding is planned to be held in the park in August.

Hopefully, the future of Minonk will hold many pleasant memories for the future generations as it has for the past generations.


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